Definition and use of the variable "race" by medical students in Salvador, Brazil

Addressing the Lack of Forensic Scientific Evidence and Expertise in the "Trigger Mechanisms" of Genocide Investigations

The impetus to begin a legal investigation or prosecution of the crime of genocide is a "trigger mechanism," which serves as the prima facie case against the accused state or actor. Unlike domestic cases of homicide, the trigger mechanisms for international genocide investigations to date have not included any forensic evidence nor have they sought input from forensic scientists. The jurists tasked with addressing the trigger mechanisms were fully capable of assessing forensic evidence but unable to generate it. This study reviews four recent large-scale investigations of genocide in Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur and Myanmar to reveal pitfalls in the cases that could have been avoided by the earlier inclusion of scientific expertise, and identifies the potential contributions of forensic science in future investigations.

Association between age and survival in a cohort of Brazilian patients with operable breast cancer

Whether age is an independent prognostic factor in breast cancer is a matter of debate. This is a retrospective cohort study of 767 breast cancer patients, stages I-III, treated at the Hospital das Clínicas, Minas Gerais Federal University, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, from 2001 to 2008, aiming to study the relationship between age and survival. We included variables related to patients, tumors, and types of treatment. Different sets of Cox models were used for survival analysis. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95%CI were calculated. The relationship between age and breast cancer survival did not change substantially in any of them. In the model that accounted for all variables, women aged 70 and older (HR = 1.51, 95%CI: 1.04-2.18), and 35 or younger (HR = 1.78, 95%CI: 1.05-3.01) had shorter cancer specific survival than patients aged between 36 and 69. In addition, older age, having at least one comorbidity, and being white were associated with a higher risk of dying from other causes. In conclusion, shorter breast cancer survival is expected among the youngest and oldest patients.